1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a lamp harp and particularly to take-apart lamp harps wherein the bail is connected to or disconnected from the bracket easily.
2. Prior Art
Although take-apart lamp harps are well known in the art, the most widely used conventional harps of this type are relatively complex and cannot be assembled and disassembled with maximum convenience. In most instances the lamp harps include, in addition to the bracket and bail of the harp, such elements as sleeves, slidable along the bail legs which co-act with the bracket for releasably retaining the bail legs attached thereto.
The multi-component structures are relatively expensive to manufacture and somewhat difficult to manipulate. It will be appreciated that the cost of manufacturing the lamp is dependent, in part, on the time needed to assemble the lamp. Therefore, any reduction in the lamp assembly time would be recognized in a reduction in the cost of the lamp.
Because of the relative expense and difficulty in manipulation associated with such multi-component lamp harps, several lamp harps were developed which are composed solely of a bracket and bail. One such harp is described in U.S. Pat. No. 1,946,959 which discloses an adjustable lamp shade in which a clamp having upwardly extending arms is provided with caps at the upper ends of the arms. Each cap has a key slot therein. The bail has a series of slots in its ends. The free ends of the bail are compressed and inserted through the caps and when the bail is at a desired height and the slots are in registry with the key slot the ends are released permitting the slots to engage the lateral portions of the key slots thereby locking the bail to the clamp. While this structure discloses a relatively inexpensive and simple lamp harp and bail combination, the bail can be disengaged easily from the clamp merely by urging the ends of the bail inwardly.
Oftentimes through carelessness, lamps are carried or moved about by an individual gripping the lamp harp and thereby lifting the lamp. In such situations the body of the lamp, which is generally of substantial weight, is supported through the connection between the bail and the bracket. In the prior art, as exemplified by the U.S. Pat. No. 1,946,956, the connection between the bracket and the bail is not designed to sustain the weight of the lamp body suspended from the bail, but merely to secure the relatively light bail and shade to the lamp body. The suspended lamp body can easily separate from the bail resulting in possible damage to the body of the lamp.
It is toward elimination of the foregoing and other difficulties that the present invention is directed.